I saw him in the distance, as the train went speeding by, <br />A shivery little fellow standing in the sun to dry. <br />And a little pile of clothing very near him I could see: <br />He was owner of a gladness that had once belonged to me. <br />I have shivered as he shivered, I have dried the way he dried, <br />I've stood naked in God's sunshine with my garments at my side; <br />And I thought as I beheld him, of the many weary men <br />Who would like to go in swimming as a little boy again. <br /> <br />I saw him scarce a moment, yet I knew his lips were blue <br />And I knew his teeth were chattering just as mine were wont to do; <br />And I knew his merry playmates in the pond were splashing still; <br />I could tell how much he envied all the boys that never chill; <br />And throughout that lonesome journey, I kept living o'er and o'er <br />The joys of going swimming when no bathing suits we wore; <br />I was with that little fellow, standing chattering in the sun; <br />I was sharing in his shivers and a partner of his fun. <br /> <br />Back to me there came the pictures that I never shall forget <br />When I dared not travel homewards if my shock of hair was wet, <br />When I did my brief undressing under fine and friendly trees <br />In the days before convention rigged us up in b.v.d's. <br />And I dived for stones and metal on the mill pond's muddy floor, <br />Then stood naked in the sunshine till my blood grew warm once more. <br />I was back again, a youngster, in those golden days of old, <br />When my teeth were wont to chatter and my lips were blue with cold.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/real-swimming/
